Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his surname. He debuted on television when South Park first aired on August 13, 1997; he had earlier appeared in The Spirit of Christmas shorts created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 1992 (Jesus vs. Frosty) and 1995 (Jesus vs. Santa). Voiced by Trey Parker, Cartman is an obese, immature, spoiled, selfish, manipulative, lazy, foul-mouthed, mean-spirited, sadistic, racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic, xenophobic, sociopathic, narcissistic, and ill-tempered elementary school student living with his unwed mother in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado, where he routinely has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town life. Despite his many personality flaws, he is also depicted as being highly intelligent, outspoken, cunning and streetwise. He is one of few multilingual characters on the show, and is depicted speaking Spanish, French and German. He tends to make effective use of his capabilities by executing morally appalling